Mong Palatino

Blogging about the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific since 2004

About

@mongster is a Manila-based activist, former Philippine legislator, and blogger/analyst of Asia-Pacific affairs.

Archive for the 'health' Category

Improving the Philippine Internet Landscape

Thursday, December 27th, 2018

Written for The Diplomat magazine Internet in the Philippines is bemoaned as one of the slowest and most inefficient in the region. Despite the absence of censorship, Internet freedom in the country is only categorized as partly-free because of the unabated media killings, government intimidation of critics, the existence of state-backed online trolls, and the […]

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Q&A: ICPD in the Philippines

Monday, February 20th, 2012

Interview by Shira Levine A UNFPA-led dialogue of young parliamentarians convened in Krabi, Thailand in late 2011 to discuss the review process for the International Conference on Population and Development’s Programme of Action. Together they shared perspectives on what works and what doesn’t in terms of improving the lives of their constituents. With the twenty-year […]

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Last month a Saudi national was accused of marrying a Filipina wife so that he could get a kidney donation in the Philippines. A news item like this has lost the power to shock readers in the Philippines because by now almost everybody is familiar with the story of desperate foreigners arriving in the country […]

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You’re Hot!

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Before: If you’re hot, you’re popular. Today: If you’re hot, you’re quarantined. Because of the swine flu scare, thermal scanners were installed in airports, government buildings, schools, and malls. These scanners measure the body temperature of passengers, students, and workers. If the machine screens a hot body, the unfortunate individual is immediately quarantined since he/she […]

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